Now You've Said It, Mr Medic
by UrsalaMinor808
Summary: Rated T... just in case. Refer to Panda8785's stories Kappa: The Preface and Hey You, Electric Blue! For more information. I do have permission to use her characters, and you can ask her if you want. I drew the cover photo for both this and Panda8785's story Hey You, Electric Blue!
1. Chapter 1

**This is the story of Lazerus from the story Hey You, Electric Blue! By Panda8785. Lazerus is my original character, and she has permission to use my character as I have permission to use her's. **

* * *

I've always considered myself as exceptional; extraordinary; intelligent, but this? Even I cannot explain. I simply went to be last night after a long day at work, then I woke up here. Question is, where is here? Dang it... my twenty-three-year-old brain may not be able to process this quite yet. It's almost as if I were dead.

"Hello mister." A little girl, with short brown hair and emerald green eyes, walked up to me, curiosity in her eyes, "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" I looked up at her from where I had been sitting. Where are her parents? "Yeah... do you mind telling me where I am?"

She giggled, "How do you not know where you are?"

I sighed, "I come from afar, and I travel with my friends to fight the dragon and claim their home once again as theirs." I laughed under my breath, "The leader of our group mainly seeks the Arkenstone, a white gem with such a radiant glow."

Her curiosity was replaced with amazement, "Wow! If that's the case, you're in Valhalla." She smiled as I grimaced.

"Valhalla?" I spoke slowly, "So, there is an after-life... But I can't be dead! I had so much to live for! I had a future!"

"Not everyone has a future." She spoke quietly, flat-toned.

"What?"

"Nothing~" She chimed, bubbly once again, "You sound like daddy when he's on happy juice."

I raised my head slightly, "Please tell me by 'happy juice' you don't mean whiskey."

"No."

"Good."

"...It's gin."

"... That's even better." I spoke in a sarcastic tone, "Why did I have to die?" I sighed again.

"Um, Mister... you're not dead." She spoke in a soft tone.

"Then why am I in Valhalla?"

"Valhalla is a planet in the ark." She now spoke in a more confused tone, "I can understand how you could think of the Norse belief of the afterlife, but be real."

"The ark?" My head shot up, "Like in Halo?"

"Halo? You mean those ring things?"

"Never mind." I stood up.

"Wait! Where are you going?" She tugged at my arm, "I'm not going to be stuck pulling this charade for nothing."

"I'm going to find out where I am. No offence, but I can't rely on childish imagination for my own life."

"I am not a child." She pouted, obviously angry.

"I'm sure small in size and young in face is classified as a child." I pinched the bridge of my nose, no where close to being able to put up with this quite yet.

"Well then, riddle me this." She sported a huge grin, "My mother was beautiful. Now, my Father grieves, but before her was me... My younger sister, as adorable as she was, is now older than I. Father or thine has created an organization in order to recreate those he had lost, but first he needs soldiers. So tell me, what's going on?"

I began to analyze the situation, "So... That doesn't even make any sense." I sneered, "Like I said, I cannot rely on childish imagination. It's impossible for a younger sibling to be older."

"Daddy doesn't talk about me for a reason. I don't think giving out information would be very wise." She gave a cheeky smile, "Especially giving it away to a child like you."

"I am not!" I shouted, then turned my head forty-five degrees to the left, "What am I doing? I'm arguing with a kid."

"Like I said, I'm not a child~" She sung as she spun a whole circle.

"You're right. You're not a child." I sighed, looking directly at her, "You're a nut."

"Guilty as charged." She laughed, "It's been a glitch in the mainframe. I'm usually better at disguising it."

"I have a feeling you're not going to let me go until I solve this."

"Nope~"

I gave out a sharp exhale, "My mother was beautiful, now my father grieves, but before her was me." I took a pause, trying to process through the given information, "My sister, as adorable as she was, is now older than I. Father has created an organization in order to recreate those he had lost, but first he needs soldiers. So, what's going on."

"Correct." She smiled, standing on her toes.

"And your father doesn't talk about you, but that's not important. You're not asking who you are, you're asking what's going on."

"Mhmm." She nodded. This child's really starting to scare the living heck out of me.

"If you're younger sister is now older," I paused in thought, "You're not human."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, you're probably an android or something based off of someone else... You're mother's beautiful, now your father grieves, but you died before your mother. That also explains why you're younger sister is older. You're stuck in the same age, but you're sister lived."

"Unfortunately," She ducked her head down a bit, "She doesn't know I exist... I'm kinda scared to approach her, even though she doesn't even know she had an older sister... look at me, I'm rambling."

I sighed again, "So... you're father created an organization in order to recreate those he had lost, which would be both you and your mother. Now I'm stumped. That only sounds familiar from movies... and an internet series."

"...What's your outlook on war?"

"That's a sudden change of topic."

"Please just answer the question." She spoke in a dead-panned tone.

"Well," I sighed, "war's not a good thing, but it's also not bad, either. People fight for a purpose, and whether or not that purpose seems stupid in the future doesn't matter."

"So, who do you find is responsible for war?"

"Responsible?" I shrugged, "Well, the leader is responsible. The soldiers are merely following orders."

"Alright then. You may be interested in this." She pulled out a card with the words Project Freelancer in bold letters, "Project Freelancer is a state of the art endeavor, with one goal in mind: to ensure the security of humanity in a harsh and violent galaxy." She just watched as I took the card out of her hand, "Now, if you ask me, that's a bunch of bull, but you already know that."

"..."

"Hello?" She jumped and waved her hand in front of my eyes, "Dang. The other one acted the same after their breakdown... Are you by any chance related?"

"I-I'm dreaming, right?" I stammered.

"He asked the same thing." She sighed, starting to walk away.

"Wait." I snapped out of my trance, "There's another?"

"Well, he's already back home." She turned to face me, a hint of worry in her face, but it was barely noticeable, "He mastered his ability... or whatever you call it in your universe."

"Can you tell me more about this 'ability' thing?" I practically begged.

"I'm sorry. I'm just the sales woman. You're going to have to buy in order to get more information. If you're afraid of dying on the battlefield, you'd make a god medic."

"... I'll consider it." I spoke cautiously.

"Alright." A smug look grew onto her face, "Hey, there's a disease currently inside of you... don't worry about it. It takes a month to incubate and isn't fatal... for the most part."

"What?!"

"Like I said, don't worry. You'll be fine... I hope." And with that, there was a moment of silence before she continued to walk away.

"Frickin' Psyco." I muttered under my breath.

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**I hope you liked it! I won't be able to work on this often, what with school work, but I'll be sure to post often enough.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! So sorry for stalling with this for a while. I've been really lazy lately. Hoping this brightens my buddy Panda8785's days, here's chapter 2**

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"So, you wish to become a soldier of Freelancer?" The Director showed me into his office.

"Actually, if it's possible, I would much rather prefer to be a medical officer... Or just someone in the medical field." I watched as the man sat in his chair of authority, "I have medical experience, and I even went to college."

"Please sit down." He motioned toward the two chairs that rest vacant in front of his desk. I felt an obligation to comply to this request, "I am afraid we already have more than enough people in regards to medicine, as of now. Currently, we are in search of fine soldiers."

"Perhaps we could settle for a mutual agreement." The Counselor suggested.

"Keep talking." I watched the man as I raised an eyebrow.

"If you spend some time fighting on the battlefield, then once we are in need of a medic or doctor, we'll be sure you are the first we contact."

_You're only here until you get home. _I reminded myself, _Just endure for a while. _"Yeah. I like the sound of that idea." I lied before shaking the hands of the men.

* * *

"Worst... decision... ever." I groaned as I continued my 'one more push-up.'

"Again." The woman in teal armor ordered as she hovered over me.

"You try living with asthma." I snapped, trying to catch my breath, "I need... my inhaler..." I collapsed.

"I'll see if I can go find you one." The woman sighed as she glared at the other two, "You two, keep going!" She ordered as she walked out of the room.

"Dude, you okay?" One of the men asked me as I cracked one of my eyes open, still panting, making sure that the woman had left.

"Yeah." I wheezed as I sat up and pulled a box out of my pocket, "Can you help me hide this?"

"What the hell are you doing?" The other scolded me in a low tone, "Those are contraband."

"Well, I did just flipping' tell the woman that I had asthma." I threw the box so that it hid in the shadows of some training equipment, "I'd rather not have double of the trouble." I sighed as I lied down on my back, steadying my breathing.

"I though I told you two to keep going!" The woman came back in, throwing a box at me, "Once your breathing steadies, get back to training."

"May I ask what your name is?" I sat up and began to open to box.

"As far as you should know, it's Carolina." She huffed.

"I see, Miss Carolina." I tried to act polite, "Based off of your voice, I'd say you're about... eighteen."

"I wish." She practically sneered, "My personal information is of no use to you."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong." I pointed out, but bit my tongue as I saw the figure of a little girl peek around the corner, "I... uh... May I be excused?"

She grabbed my shoulder, "No. For attempting that, one hundred mason twists."

I turned to look at her as well in the eye as I could through her helmet, "What the fuck is a mason twist?!"

* * *

I collapsed of the hard surface of my assigned bed, allowing a groan to escape my lips.

"Sorry to hear that you're training with Carolina." The man I had been told to room with started talking to me, "You'd think after two years, she'd realize that people can't immediately go into heavy training. If you were of the three men under my jurisdiction, you would only be in pain once you woke up, not going to bed."

"Who the hell are you, anyway." I growled as I turned my head to face the other side of the room.

"Name's Nevada." He extended his hand to me as I simply ignored his kind gesture and turned my head negative ninety degrees, "You don't have to be so rude." He laughed.

"I just want to sleep." I spoke, voice muffled from the pillow that had been covering my face.

"... How old are you?" He asked quite randomly.

"What's it to you?" I turned my head to once again face the man.

"Well, a lot of people here tend to not seem like their own age. For example, Carolina is only sixteen."

I shot my head up, wincing as I felt my abdomen throb, "She's only sixteen?!"

"Psh yeah. I just recently turned eighteen, too." He laughed.

"..." I rolled onto my back as I started to stare at the ceiling, "I'm twenty-three."

"Wow." He spoke, almost impressed, "How did they let you in the military?"

"I'm not that old." I sighed.

"Sorry." There was silence in the room, "Can I let you in of a little secret?"

"What?" I tried not to sound rude, despite the anger in my tone.

"Not all of the trainees get to pass."

"..." I turned my head for hopefully one last time, "I thought you were gonna say something encouraging."

"Well... you know her, don't you?" He turned his head in order to face me.

"I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Um..." He looked back at the ceiling, pulling his arm under his head, "Goes by the name Rebekah... sometimes Kappa. Short, brown hair. Green eyes. About yay high."

"... What is that supposed to-"

"It's possible that we're the only ones to know about her, so do keep it on the down low, but she's the ship's current AI."

I raised an eyebrow, "Not the Alpha?"

"What're you talking about?"

"Nothing." I sighed.

"..." He let out a long exhale, "She has the main vote for those who pass or fail... and you have an advantage. No one, aside from the Director and the Counselor."

"How do you know that I know her?" I questioned.

"Well... I have my ways... Don't question it."

"... Alright?"

"She's smart." He sighed, "And she does check up on Carolina quite often. If she didn't want to be seen by you, you wouldn't have noticed her. You wouldn't know that she even existed." He reach one of his hands toward the ceiling and looked between his fingers, "It's almost as if she has a plan or something." He dropped his arm and turned to the side, so that he wasn't facing me, "Sorry for boring you with the details." He laughed, "You have some more training tomorrow. You'll want a good night's rest."

"Alright." I sighed as I some how managed to get under the covers of my bed, "Same time tomorrow?"

"Heh. If you're lucky."

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**So, those of you who are reading this, my buddy Panda8785 has recently started writing a book called Projectile Industries. This is the first non fanfiction writing that she has devoted herself to, so be sure to give her plenty of support! If you guys would like, I would highly recommend that you read some of her works!**


	3. Chapter 3

"One more!" Carolina shouted at me as she sat down on my back (Out of armor, thank god!) holding the pack of Marlboros that I had previously hid.

"I need to breath." I wheezed as I attempted to preform another pushup.

"Don't you dare give me that shit!" She growled, "One more!"

"This is not about asthma." I spoke with barely any breath, "You are crushing my lungs."

"Suck it up." She huffed, leaning forward a bit, "One more!"

"Carolina." Nevada stepped into the training room with a strict look on his face, "Don't kill our trainees."

"If he ends up passing out, then I'll get off." She spoke in a clam tone.

"Get off of him, now." He said in an almost angry tone as I felt the weight of the woman slide off. Next thing I knew, I was stomach down, collapsed against the tile, "Thank you." He sighed and crouched down in front of me as I made multiple attempts to steady my breath, "You alright, there?"

"He's fine." She snapped.

"I must apologize for my partner." He spoke in a stern tone as he turned to face the woman of long, red hair, "I'm sure she means well, but she won't end up doing that again."

"I cannot make any promises." She laughed again.

"You won't end up doing that again." He ordered.

"Uggh. Yes, Sir." Is this... always how teenagers behaved? I feel so sorry for my parents, now.

"You're still too kind to people." She sighed as she threw the box of cigarettes into the trash can.

"No, you're too cruel." He had me sit up as he tried to help me breath.

"Don't think that I don't remember when we first got here." She laughed, "They made you run forty non-stop miles when they caught you with a soda."

"Oh, God. Please don't remind me of that."

"Heh... Point of the matter is, I was being nice."

I looked up to see the little girl in the door way again... All she did was stare, "K-Kappa?" I spoke in a low voice as she backed away.

Carolina turned around in order to figure out where my attention had previously been, "What the hell are you talking about?" She turned to face me once again.

"He's probably delusional." Nevada sighed, glancing at the door-way, then directing his attention to the me, "Hey. You've had enough hell today. Take some time to rest." And with that, he helped me up and escorted me to my room.

* * *

I've been sprawled out on my bed for the whole rest of the day. I cannot complain, except for the fact that everything hurts. With every breath I take, my lungs feel as if they are to burst. Every time I try to change into a more comfortable position, the mind-numbing pain rushes throughout my body, practically taking over.

"Hey." Nevada sighed as he opened the door, "How're ya feelin'?"

"We're not buddies." I groaned as I sat up, supporting myself on the wall behind me as I felt a new wave of pain hit me.

"Well, you don't have to be a grouch about it." He laughed as he threw a sandwich wrapped in saran wrap at me, "I could've poisoned that."

"That does not reassure me." I muttered as he began to take off his armor, "Aren't you supposed to keep those in the lockers?"

"Meh." He sighed, "It's optional... and I would prefer to not have my armor stolen by Washington."

"That's right." I looked at him, "How old is David?"

"Who's David?" He cocked his head to side as he sat down on his own bed.

"Uh..." I stared at him before a knock came to the door.

"Ugh." The man stood up from where he had been sitting in order to answer the previously mentioned door, "Who could be bothering us at this hour?" He opened the door as a child rushed in, closing the door behind her.

"Don't even ask." Her voice was nearly a hiss as she began to direct her attention to me.

"I wasn't going to." Nevada laughed as he sat back down.

"Yeah, yeah." She waved in a dismissive fashion, "Hey, why are you training to be a soldier? I told you to apply to be a medic!" She snapped at me.

"Woah, woah, woah." I raised my arms in defense before flinching, "You said I'd make a good medic."

"No offense, but you're not of use in regards to fighting on the battlefield." She sighed before reaching her hand into her pocket.

"I take complete offense to that." I huffed under my breath.

"Well," She pulled her hand out of her pocket and threw a flash drive at Nevada, "I can't pass you, and the only way we can have you stay on the Mother of Invention is if you become a medic."

"Listen," I stood up, trying my best to ignore the pain in my joints, "I was told that I cannot apply for a medical position."

"Wait." She blinked at me for a moment, "Who told you that?"

"May I ask what's going on?" Nevada tilted his head to the side, as if he were some sort of absolutely confused animal.

"Well," The girl sighed, "I'm going to have to create a new medical opening and place no physical potential in it before he gets booted from the M.O.I." She sighed and looked at me.

"I take offense to that." I glared back at her.

"Well then," She sneered, "what did whomever tell you about us not having a medical position." She pulled up a holographic monitor in front of her and began typing away.

"The Director told me that there is no medical position," I sighed, "but we did work out a deal."

"A deal?" She gave off a weak laugh as she glanced over at me, "And what was this deal?"

"I train as a soldier, then once they need another medic, then I will be the first they consult.

That made her break down laughing as she fell to her knees, holding her stomach, "That- That's just great!" She continued to laugh, then looked up at me. The laughter stopped suddenly, "Wait, you're serious?"

"Why would I not be?" I watched her, trying to decipher her... She was... different, if that's the word I have been looking for. She was like an enigma dressed in a child's clothes that just walked around and hid from those she hated to be seen by.

"Well, no offense-"

"You seem to say that a lot." I growled under my breath.

"... You are not a good fighter. You have absolutely no physical ability. I cannot pass you. The Director quite possibly knows this, so he created an impossible deal with you."

"The heck are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that once you're off the Mother of Invention, you're off the Mother of Invention. After a specific amount of time, some people tend to delve into a few things." She gave a short laugh, "That's why the preliminary round's only a specific amount of time. We don't allow people who failed to return." I watched her for a moment, somewhat stunned, "But, lucky for you, we do need a medical officer for tending to the rookies. Absolutely no one is helping them." She sighed, "It'll take me a minute to erase records, try to alter others' memories, you know the good stuff so that there would be no evidence of you aiming to win the soldier preliminaries."

"I-" I started, but was then interrupted.

"I'll start to pull an all nighter on this one." The monitor disappeared, once again encasing the room in as much darkness as there originally was, "I'll come back tomorrow and bring over a pager and an office key. Normally, medical officials and soldiers don't share a room, but I'm going to have to excuse that. You two are the only two on this ship, aside from the Director and Counselor, that know of me. It'd be a hassle to want to talk to one of you and have to pull you off to the side." With that, she turned around and opened the door.

"Wait a minute. I-"

She took a step out the door, then turned to face me, the light coming out of the door way causing shadows to appear on her facial feature as she held a nearly crooked smile on her face, "Mister Lazerus Alder Geist, I am shocked at how defiant you've become. I want you on this ship, I really do, but I am not going to lie to a bunch of people by saying you were the best of the bunch... I'm going to lie to them saying that you never even attempted becoming a soldier." And with that she left, shutting the door behind her.

The room grew quiet to the point where it seemed like almost nothing could break it. That is until Nevada spoke up.

"Yeah, she takes some getting used to." He gave off a short laugh, "She's a little bossy, and scary every once in a while, but she honestly means well."

I looked over to him, "What's on that drive she gave you?"

"Files."

"No, really?" I spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Well," He sighed, "They're more like... personal files. Top secret, if you must." He hummed, "Of course, I can't share it."

"Ass." I laughed, lying back down on the bed, wincing at the pain.

"Funny," He laughed with me, "you don't seem like the cursing type."

"I'm not."


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, here's installment 4 *que confetti cannons*. I must apologize, profusely for publishing this so late. I've been working on my own novel (and editing Panda8785's wonderful hate crime of a story [still love you, babe!])**

* * *

"Well then, Ms. Zeal, I must say your vitals are doing pretty well," I set down the woman's hand as I moved over to my computer, "but your shot-record does seem to be out of date."

"H-how much out of date?" Fear reached her eyes.

"Not too far," I held a comforting smile, "but I'll be sure to make it as painless as possible." I pulled out a syringe and filled it with a fluid, watching her eyes dilate, "So, I hope I am not prying, but what is it? Algophobia? Belonephobia? Trypanophobia?" She tilted her head at me in utter confusion, "Fear of pain, fear of sharp objects, or fear of injections?"

"Um..." She averted her attention from me, tugging at the rim of her shirt, "The... first one."

"Well," I held her arm while she wasn't watching, injecting the vaccine into her, watching her cringe, "What are you doing in the army, then?"

"Because it's not about being afraid. I want to fight in order to protect those I love." Her voice went cold, straying far away from her outward behavior.

"Then, let me ask you another question." I filled the syringe once again, with a different vaccine, "How did you get most of your shots taken care of, if you have such a fear of pain?"

"I have a good doctor back at home that gives me vaccines through the power of osmosis." She waved her hand dismissively at me, "You wouldn't understand."

"Before I became a doctor here, I majored in biology." I spoke in a deadpanned tone, trying to hide the irritation behind my voice, "I think I know what osmosis means."

"Psh. Please." She held sarcasm in her voice, "All biologists know is if you have three frogs and one hops away, you now have two frogs."

I was about ready to slap her, but I ended up restraining myself, "You're done." I sighed, throwing the needle into the trash can five feet away, "Go ahead and report to the lunch hall. You'll be fed and placed in a group to begin training." And with that, she had finally left, "Next." my voice shed its false enthusiasm as I slowly spun around in my chair.

"I think that's all of them." Nevada had been leaning against the door frame, "That is, of course, unless someone ran away without me noticing. If that's the case, he deserves to pass."

"Yeah." I sighed, taking my laptop off my desk and placing it on my lap, "How many people did I examine today? Fifty?"

"Comes with the job." He laughed, "You're the only medic working on the trainees."

"Well, crap." I sunk into my seat.

"So, guess who got into an argument?"

"Director didn't appreciate her failing the one he wanted?"

"Yeah." He laughed, "And guess who's going to spend a night or two in our room?"

"He must really not like Reginald." I chuckled under my breath, "She's in our room for no more than two days, correct?"

"She said two days away from him will give him enough time to calm down. In the mean time, we have to keep an eye on Wyoming. Director might pull something."

"Why does she have to 'hang low' in our room?" I stood up, typing something real quick before closing my computer.

"We're the only one's who know about her." He shrugged, "If it were up to her, she'd be snuggling close to her sister, but it's not."

"Her sister?" I began walking as he began to follow.

"Carolina." He sighed, "You can ask her her back-story... I'm not all too familiar with it myself."

"Because knowing someone's whole life story is an invasion of privacy." I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Nevada, you of all people should know that."

"It's not an invasion of privacy if they tell you." He began to laugh, "It's not like I could've researched her. She's not on any UNSC or Freelancer records."

"Wait a second." I said in realization as we reached our bedroom door, "Does that mean Becka's the Director's daughter, too."

"You might want to keep quiet about that." He raised his eyebrow to me, "I thought no one aside from me, Carolina, and the Director knew that."

"Well," I opened the door and walked over to my bed, where the Kappa AI had been sitting up with holographic monitors surrounded her, "I should be asking how you know, shouldn't I?"

"Meh." He shrugged once again, closing the door behind him, "Carolina and I have been friends for eight years."

"That would be about three years after my existence passed." The AI on my bed spoke up, "Lazerus, I have got to say that placing you into the medical field was one of my best decisions. You are great with the patients."

"Oh yeah?" I laughed, pulling a box out of my pocket.

"Yeah." She watched my hand, "Those are still contraband, so long as you are on the Mother of Invention."

"Calm down. I'm not actually going to light it." I sat down next to her, watching a monitor that skimmed through some sort of code, "Which coding software do you use?"

"Not one you can find on anything else." She laughed, "I do not have a name for it, yet, but it is currently pretty hard to hack."

"Well, that's good."

"Yeah. Real relief when you are the one in charge of keeping documents safe." She sighed, "Hate being the only operating system, here.

"FILSS not helping out?" I raised an eyebrow to her.

"You mean the training AI I am stuck programming?" She gave a short laugh, "Yeah. She is a big help, what with being inoperable and all."

"Hey, Kappa?" Nevada spoke up, directing our attention toward him, "You don't happen to have any extra data to give me, do you?"

"Many apologies." She broke eye-contact with the man, her attention returning to the many monitors, "Not much has happened since the last Insurrection. Later in the project, though, I will have a significant amount of information for you."

"Should I even ask?" I rest my head against the wall.

"No." Nevada sighed.

"Information exchange of Project Freelancer." Kappa glanced over at me, "Meaning if you tattle on Nevada for having access to documents, I will personally tell the Director that you used him as a cover-up."

"You're planing on rebelling?" My eyes went back and forth between the two.

"No." She let out an exhausted sigh, "Just keeping tabs. The Director is behaving as is, but I do not trust that the Project will keep its purity forever."

"What's with the formal talk, anyway?" I laughed.

"The Director does not appreciate when I use slang or contractions." She gave me a serious look, "Claims that by acting like others I will become like others. Formality is his idea of keeping me pure. Once he gets Allison back, though, I shall be of no use to him."

"If he created you, then how come it's taking him longer to get Allison?" I couldn't help but ask that. I mean, seriously! Is no one else thinking this?

"That is because I am a mistake." She lowered her head a bit, "A malfunction, if you will. The Director wants no errors when Allison returns, but for his own 'flesh and blood' he is fine with flaws."

"And how is it that you're a 'mistake.'" Someone shut me up. I'm gonna make a small child cry.

"I am unable to follow rudimentary procedures, for one thing." She sunk into the space she had been seated at, now staring at the ceiling, "My... makeup... does not correlate with whatever body I am put in. I was supposed to be able to experience the senses of taste, touch, and smell. Love how that worked out." She gave a short laugh, "And I have to be plugged into a physical database if I want to go into a different body. That is just too much time consumption."

"Um..." I bit my tongue for a moment, really not wanting to make anything worse. "I'm sorry for mentioning it."

"It is fine." She sighed, "I do not mind telling these stories. Just helps people learn from others' mistakes."

"Good night?" Nevada spoke up.

"I could use a rest, too." She sighed, rolling off of the bed, "My batteries are almost at empty."

"And you're going to charge yourself, how?" I couldn't help but ask.

"There is an outlet underneath your bed." She muttered, "I can just use that, as of now."

"Don't break anything."

"Promise. I will not." And with that, the three of us just rested in what seemed like an awkward silence. Damn... I really miss home.

* * *

**Not very much... I'm sorry ;-;. There's a long time gap between what I want to write and where we're at now, so please forgive me!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So for those of you who haven't read Panda8785's update, I have a ****Wattpad. I'm only going to use this for original stories, but if you want to read it, go to Wattpad and search either UrsaMajor2014 or War is for Adults: Book of Fear. Now, in regards to Panda, I don't know why she advertises for me. I really am an amateur at writing... Oh well, she's entitled to her own opinion. :)**

* * *

"This book seems to explain everything." I sighed, closing my book titled _Inter-Universal Transportation_, "A 'Universal Jump' is pretty much the only explanation, anymore."

"Took you a good week to finish that." The Kappa AI laughed at me, making fun of my intelligence.

"Well, I'm sorry that I don't have enough time." I scoffed, "I'm the _only _medical officer taking care of two training groups at a time. Ninety-five percent of my day is healing those that are too clumsy."

"Kappa?" Nevada sighed, not diverting his attention from his book, "Is it a game for you to pick these nut-jobs off of the streets?"

"All I have to say is that the last one was not a fluke." She spoke, bluntly, as she observed a variety of schematics and matrices.

"Yes," He closed his book and stared at the wall, "but the one before that also believed he was god... I swear, he still has followers somewhere around this ship."

"Mountain Dew and Doritos." She laughed, "Hail Mike!"

"You better not spread that sacrilege."

"Do not worry. He is in the insane asylum; like he should be."

"Should I even ask?" I piped, watching the two.

"It is nothing to worry about." The AI stood up, stretching her arms out, "Group Gamma has graduation, today. Greet our newcomer with smiles." She then walked over to the door.

"Who's it going to be, this time?" Nevada tilted his head to the side.

"Michael Perriton." She sighed, giving the man a somewhat apathetic look. "He'll get the name Agent Oregon."

"The kid that keeps claiming he's eighteen?" Nevada laughed.

"He is obviously sixteen." She scoffed, "Though he does seem like one to deny he is getting older... Yet a two-year-old could sign up for training, here... not that I would let someone so young pass, mind you, but the Director is pretty fond of bending the rules."

"Kappa?" I sighed, "Please use contractions. I feel like you're lecturing me every time you speak."

"How do you know I'm not?" She laughed, "I can use such contractions and make you feel as if you're being lectured. It's merely how I was programmed."

"Contractions are also efficient." Nevada sighed, standing up and cracking his neck, "Let's have this conversation another day."

"Alright." She sighed, opening the door, "I will see you two later." She took a step then stopped, "I am sorry that you have yet to have a soldier pass, Finnic. Perhaps next time you will have better luck." And with that, she finally left.

"Finnic?" A held a mocking tone in my voice.

"Hey, you're name's _Lazerus_... spelled like Laser with a z and Us." He laughed, "I wouldn't go making fun of other peoples' names."

"Yeah, yeah." I stood up and made my way to the door, "Though this Michael character's graduating from Gamma group, I still have to make sure Delta group doesn't die from puncture wounds." I let out a long sigh, "If people stopped dying during missions and we finally get all fifty agents, I'll be happy knowing I don't have to bandage someone up so often." I let out a slow, exhausted sigh.

"Let's not forget that none of the other medical officers have volunteered to help you out." He set his book down next to him, beginning to strap into his armor of white and accents of orange.

"They help with major surgery." I gave off a sheepish laugh, "I'm at least thankful for that."

"Well," He sighed, staying at a standstill as he watched the golden visor of his helmet, "Good luck with another day."

"I'm getting paid." I gave off a nonchalant shrug, "So long as that's a constant in this equation, I'll just have to deal with the variables."

* * *

"Why!?" A female patient of mine hovered over me, scalpel in hand, "Why did you kill them!? How?! H-how can you live with yourself so easily!?"

"Ms. Cruz," I managed to choke, using all my strength to keep her from mutilating me, "please calm down. You're delusional."

"They were our family." She growled under her breath, tears beginning to stream down her face and fall on my own, "What were your motives? Why did you have to do it?" She used some more of her own strength. I managed to move her away from my throat, only to get the blade shoved into my shoulder.

"God, dammit!" I cringed, trying my hardest to direct my mind away from the mind-numbing pain.

"It's about time that you learn your lesson!" She screamed, letting go of the knife and lifting her arm and balled-up fist. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact that never ended up coming. I opened my eyes once again to see the woman being restrained by someone. It was obviously one of the soldiers, since they were in armor, but I couldn't identify their face. He didn't talk. Instead, he kept his back against the wall, restraining the thrashing and screaming woman.

"Lazerus." Someone spoke up from next to me. The voice itself was blurry, low, and unidentifiable. I looked over to my shoulder to see the scalpel buried into my left shoulder, handle going across my neck. Slowly, I began to fade out of consciousness, for my adrenaline began to go down.

* * *

"Doc. He's waking up." I voice spoke up as I cracked my eyes open, welcoming the artificial light to my corneas.

"What the hell's going on?" I slurred in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"One of Washington's trainees attacked you." Nevada sat at my right, helping me sit up.

"He should be resting." A doctor looked over his shoulder to watch up.

"He'll be fine." Nevada laughed as the man went back to what he had been doing, "You are so lucky Washington was nearby." He directed his attention back to me, giving off a short laugh.

I sat there for a moment, trying to process what had been going on. Upon realization, I quickly rushed to look at my injured shoulder, tracing the stitches with my fingers, "Wait..." I sighed, "It was one scalpel. This shouldn't be as wide as it is."

"It was really jammed in there." The spartan laughed, "They had to surgically remove it. They're gonna put you on some pills and you'll be all good."

"Why? The scalpel was sterile; I made sure of it." I dropped my hand from my injury.

"I don't know." He let off a shrug, "Doctors said something about 'too little calcium.'"

"That would make sense." I let out a short laugh, "Necessities, one; lactosintolerancy, zero."

"You know that dairy isn't the only way to get calcium, right?" He managed to sustain his laughter, raising his eyebrows up a bit.

"Yeah, I know." I stood up, receiving a glare from the doctor looking over me. I gave him a dismissive wave, "It's a common source, though."

"Yeah, yeah." He sighed, "Let's get you something to eat. You've been unconscious through both lunch and diner."

"Let me get dressed." I picked up a pair of clothes that had rest at a stand by the bed, shooing the man away, "I'll meet you there." I began to walk over to the bathroom.

"Alright." He gave out an exhausted sigh as he began to walk away, "See ya there."

* * *

**Yeah... this is short. Wanted to get a few ideas down. Next chapter will be a little better. I can almost ****guarantee that.**


	6. Chapter 6

It's been about three years, and it all happens to be the same routine. Someone in the project ends up dying before we get all fifty, and we have to constantly keep training people to fill in the gaps. Of course, this is early in the project. We haven't even been close to fifty within the past while. Hell, someone died playing freakin' Grifball! Yes, the game was entertaining, but that's just one more training session I have to endure of mindless people injuring themselves. And it's just me, and some other guy that doesn't give a damn, running the infirmary for the trainees. Seriously, why are there medical appointments _solely_ for these idiots? Why can't we have more than two people, technically one, taking care of fifty people.

"Excuse me?" A voice went off from behind me. I can't worry about these things. I have a job to take care of.

"Yes?" I turned around in my seat to see two boys, quite possibly both at the age of thirteen, standing at the doorway. Upon further examination, they looked nearly identical, "I'm sorry." I tried to hold a comforting smile, "Are you two here to visit someone? Perhaps I could help you find them."

"We're not here for that." One spoke in an even tone, handing my two manila folders. These are low tech, here.

I took the folders examination the papers within, "Alec and Cameron Morris." I looked up at the two, "Do you two not have data-pads?"

"No." The same kid spoke in a flat tone. These two... look like they've been through hell. It's just a think you could tell upon first glance. Their eyes had dark circles. One held anger and hatred, whilst the other clung to fear and regret.

"Alright," I sighed, setting the files down next to my computer, "would you care to explain to me which is which?" I put my hands on my lap, watching the two boys.

"I'm Alec," His tone was dead-panned; lifeless, as he motioned to his cowering brother, "and my brother is Cameron."

"Well," I gave off a soft smile, "it's very nice to meet you. Alec. Cameron. If one of you could please step out so that I could examine the other and make sure all files are up to da-"

"Al?" Cameron spoke with a whimper.

"Cam, it's fine." Alec spoke in a near whisper. I've seen this before, though that was before I decided to go for my medical degree. Codependency. No, that's not the word. It's just regular dependency, "Just go sit out with Verna. I'll be back in a bit." The boy's voice snapped me out of my trance.

"Actually, you can stay." I let out a sigh, "I'm just checking blood-pressure, heart and breathing rate, and vision." I began to gather my tools.

"Really?" Alec's voice softened, slightly, as he looked at me in minor shock.

"Yeah." I let out a slow exhale, double checking that the gauge on the sphygmomanometer was properly calibrated, "One of you has to not be in the way, but I trust that the two of you will behave." I motioned over toward the bed, "One of you go ahead and sit down."

"Yessir." Alec muttered, a light southern accent appearing in his voice as his brother sat in the chair closest to the medical bed.

"Alright." I gave a short laugh, looking over the boy's file, "Whoa..." I faked a look of surprise when I caught a glance of the age _eighteen_ written by his name. There is no way that's their actual age. They think they can fool me? That only happens once, and I technically wasn't even here at the time.

"What?" He looked up at me, obviously trying to , "What's wrong?"

"Your shot records." I sighed, standing up from my comfortable chair, "They haven't been updated in five years."

"Is that bad?" He gave a bored look, continuing to face me.

"Well," I bit my bottom lip, "within that three years, you've skipped out on five boosters, a vaccine for medaculors, another vaccine for peculous... yet another for feroculo." I flipped the page somewhat dramatically, not really reading. I'm just making up diseases at this point. If I don't know what it is, they won't either, "And Yittrius, Rubodium, Marculium... And you haven't been tested for tuberculosis, tetanus, or hepatitis."

"Alright." He spoke in a flat tone before looking over at his brother, who had managed to put himself into a fetal position, "I'm sorry." He said in a low voice, standing up and walking toward his brother, "We're not supposed to be here. We'll just take our cousin and go." He went to grab his brother's hand but ended up getting a light slap to the wrist.

"I'm not going." Cameron spoke in a near whisper as he clung to the sleeves of his shirt.

"Cam." His voice grew darker, causing his brother to cower.

"I said I'm staying." His voice raised in pitch, tears beginning to brim his eyes.

Alec let at a slow sigh as he turned to face my direction, "I must apologize for my brother's behavior." He gave me a quick nod before grabbing his brother's arm and leaving my office.

I slowly followed them, stopping myself at the almost shut door (damaged from an explosion. I'd rather not explain, but now privacy doesn't exist in this room) and watching the two from the small crack.

"What do you think you're doing?" Alec released his brother's arm, "You and I both no you're not the best of fans when it comes to injections."

"Maybe it's not an injection." Cameron stood tall against his sibling, appearing about an inch more in height, "Maybe it's some sort of... osmotic thing."

"Do you even know what that word means?"

"Umm..."

"Of course you don't." He sighed, attempting to calm his voice down, "I told you already; if you want to be a soldier, wait until you're no longer dependent on me and Veronica... which is probably long after we get to eighteen."

"If you don't want to fight, why are you joining us!" He grit his teeth, making his seem as if he wasn't the cowardly kid I had just met.

"I don't know." He held a heavy amount of sarcasm, "Maybe it's because I'm your brother. Maybe it's that both you and Verna pressured me. Oh! How about the fact that the three of us promised not to separate."

"Alec!" A female's voice snapped as a woman, probably at the age of fifteen, came into view, smacking the boy's head with a book. Another thing you don't commonly see in this day and age, "Be nice to your brother."

"Verna." He hissed, holding the back of his head as he turned to face the woman, "Come one. You can't possibly be siding with him."

"Are you suggesting that we _should _let their deaths be in vain?!" Cam shouted, clenching his fists at his sides. Who does he mean by 'they?'

"Cam..." He let out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, "In no way am I insinuating that. I just... We're not old enough to fight."

"That's false and you know it." The woman sighed, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, "That's to whole reason why I allowed you two to tag along." She turned her head to the side, watching how far the hallway stretched, "Here, they'll train you. If you fail then you go back home being able to defend yourself. Let's be honest, I'm crap at teaching the two of you," She gave off a soft snort, "but you two are at the age to learn how." She turned to face Alec, "Listen, I know you don't want to fight. I completely understand your reasonings. Hell, I didn't want to _continue_ training after the... incident... but at least learn knowing that you'll be able to defend you and your brother."

"Okay." The boy ducked his head a bit, trying to avoid any sort of eye contact, "but they'll pick you... You're the best fighter, here."

"And I can't protect you two forever." She laughed, pointing at the door I had been watching from behind, "Now, get your asses back in there."

I took a few steps back, until I stood right beside my computer. I watched the screen, intently, listening to the door open from behind me, "And who might you be?" I didn't look away from my monitor, hoping to sound clueless.

"I must apologize for my outward behavior, moments ago." Alec dragged out a few of his words, seeming more honest.

I looked over my shoulder, "Oh?" I gave a short laugh, "Well, I'm sorry for scaring your brother half to death in my attempts of having to two of you admit your proper age."

"How did you-" Cam spoke with astonishment in his voice as his brother pinched the bridge of his nose once again. Coping mechanism? No, it's probably just a way of relieving stress.

"Let's just say I'm more intelligent then you take me for." I handed them back their files, "I don't care if you have to cross it out with pencil or something, but please fill out your files accurately. It'll come in handy, eventually."

"You're not going to give us the speech of how we're 'too young?'" Alec narrowed his eyes, taking the manilla folders from me.

"Well," I sighed, sitting on the arm of my chair, "in all honesty, my job is to provide medical information. If the Director think's you're too young, you wouldn't even be standing here." I gave of a shrug, "The Director, himself doesn't really care, though. In his eyes, so long as you can walk, you can fight."

"Drat." He muttered under his breath, ignoring his brother's gleam of hope.

"That being said," I stood back up, "The two of you would need to see someone regularly, saying that either of you do end up making it through to the project."

"Yeah, yeah." Alec growled under his breath, "Just give us a checkup and let us go already."

"Yeah." I glanced over at a scanner on my desk. Yes, I'm supposed to be using it. I just don't know how. Might as well figure it out. I've wasted enough time on these two. Picking up the scanner, I pointed it at one of the boys, searching for the button.

"You have got to be kidding me." Alec muttered, taking the scanner out of my hand, turning it around, and scanning his brother. After that he handed it back to me.

"Um... Thank you." My voice lacked confidence. I've been outsmarted by a child. After that, I scanned him and dismissed the two.

"You want us to bring someone else in?" Cam spoke in a slightly more confident tone.

"Just tell Nevada and Washington to have my assistant take care of the rest." I sighed, sitting down at my seat.

"Idiot of a doctor." Alec muttered immediately before the door 'shut.'

I leaned in my seat, closing my eyes as I tried to relax myself. Damn, those two wore me out. Well, it's really not just them. I've been working on _all_ of the patients for the past five hours. It's about time my assistant starts working... though he is very much so of an ass. Why the hell was he put into my department. Hell, why was he even hired?

"An interesting bunch, those three." A female voice went off. I opened my eyes to see the Kappa AI using the trash bin on my computer as a seat.

"I thought you had to be manually extracted in order to put into different devices." I scoffed.

"And I am able to 'manually extract myself.'" She used air quotes as emphasis, "I imported myself into the whole ship so that I could have an easy access to the cameras. Your computer just so happens to be plugged into the ship."

"Someone's a little sassy today." I laughed, using my arm to prop my head up.

"I just have some things to sort out." She ducked her head a bit before looking back up at me, "One of those two has a condition that came into focus about one hundred years after your time."

"And what may that be?" I raised my eyebrows a bit.

"He is unable to get much stronger than he is now." She gave off a short laugh, followed by a shrug, "It really is a shame to see someone who is limited because of a condition."

"Lemme guess," I lifted up my head, straightening my back out a bit, "Cameron?"

"Alec."

"Oh, really?" I quickly looked over my shoulder and turned to face the monitor once again, "Alec's the one that isn't a coward."

"Yes, I am aware of that." She sighed, 'standing' upright.

"And how do you know that?" I laughed, "I haven't even uploaded the scans, yet."

"And that is where my problem ended up helping me out." She sneered, "I got our new AI to help me out with that."

"Did you, now?" I laughed, barely believing what I had been told, "Never expected you to ask someone for help."

"He is the only AI, on the ship, that can jump between electronics at will. I needed him to tap into the chips in their heads."

"Chips?" I questioned her, sinking into my seat.

"Yeah..." She broke eye contact with me, "Hey, do you remember the fall of Raeco?"

"The one from two years ago?" I laughed, "Yeah. How could one forget? A whole planet got destroyed by an asteroid."

"You would be surprised by the amount of people that forget that." She gave off a short, unconfident laugh, "There was one particular section of the planet. It was kinda... amish, in a way."

"I would think it would be hard to live like that at this day and age."

"It is... They used technology, but learned to not depend on it. They used chips to distinguish the traitors and simulations to imitate a fight. They were like... low-tech bounty hunters, and they were good at their job, too. They train throughout their teenage years and are allowed to go into actual battle once they're officially adults."

"Seems like a rough way to be raised." I sighed, pushing the small of my back into the back of my chair.

"But that was how they lived, and it is not like they were held against their will to fight. They got to choose."

"At the age of thirteen?"

"The age of thirteen is when a human being is able to think without depending on an adult. That is about the age when they become more aware. They spend their years of ignorance enjoying their lives."

"That still seems young."

"They spent the first three years solely on defensive maneuvers. Yes, their group was known for bounty hunting, but they saw each other as family... and anything they did was for family."

I spun in my chair, looking at the door, "That's a very uncommon trait to find in someone." A soft smile crept across my face.

"Yeah," She spoke in a low tone, "and I thought that no survivors remained."

"They must be very resilient." I let out a soft chuckle.

"How so?" She snickered, "That 'Alec' guy is two steps away from a meltdown."

"It's just, knowing what they've been through, you'd think they wouldn't want to fight." I spun back around in order to face her, "Or perhaps it's that they'd do anything for family that they keep pushing through."

"Maybe." She spoke up, slower than before.

"That being said, they'll probably end up being assigned to someone who'll break them." I sighed.

"If I were in charge of assigning groups, I would try to keep that drive." She muttered, "Unfortunately, I am only the monitor. All we can do is hope they keep their motivation."

"Yeah." I agreed with her, "Let's just cross our fingers for just that."

* * *

**So, I felt like I needed to be the one to write an in-depth explanation of Alec (Arizona), Cameron (New Mexico), and Veronica (Verna [West Virginia]) Morris from Hey You, Electric Blue! If you haven't checked out that story, you should! So, I hope you guys enjoyed and have a fantastic day. **


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I have a few announcements before we continue with the story. First, go check out the community I made (and forum by panda8785) called A Tale of Two Bears. It's just a collaboration of all mine and panda8785's works. And also don't forget to follow The Jumper's Guide to Returning Home by panda8785! If she gets 16 followers on the story, she'll continue it! Well, that's enough from me. Now, on to the story!**

* * *

Today was dragged out. First I had to treat all the injured, as my other colleagues sat on there asses all day, then I continued reading Inter-universal Transportation, and that was before breakfast! Next was more patient treating, reading, yelling at work-study (Yes, we get fucking work-studies here in the fucking middle of fucking space!), walking around halls, observing torturous training routines, mending wounds from such torturous training routines, walking, lunch, patching up wounds, yelling at colleagues for not giving a shit on such a busy day, locking self in room for a quick breather, getting barked at by the Director for_ not doing anything..._

I'm overwhelmed... I just want to go home, but that doesn't seem like much of an option, anymore.

A knock came to my door, "Lazerus?" Nevada's voice spoke to me with mild concern. I ignored him, remaining silent as I continued to read my book, bright red pen in hand, "Come on, buddy. Open up the door."

"I'm no one's 'buddy.'" I sighed, bringing my knees closer to my chest.

"If you weren't my buddy, then why would I be bringing you food?"

A short silence grew between us before I reluctantly opened the door.

"God, you look awful." A slight look of disgust contorted his features.

"Thanks. Those are words everyone wants to hear." I huffed under my breath, squinting at the artificial light.

"Sorry." He laughed, handing me a sandwich as we walked back into the candle-lit room, "These wax sticks? No one uses these, anymore."

"Well, I'm sorry that it's something more common at my home." I nearly hissed, sitting down back at the coffee table and opening the book to where I had left off.

"Missing home?" He asked as he quietly sat onto his bed.

"No, I'm obviously happy that I haven't seen my family in three years! That- that I haven't had my own room! That I never finished my education in medical school!"

"You... never finished medical school?" He froze for a moment, looking down at his abdomen.

"I at least know how to fix a bullet wound, dumb-ass."

"Oh, your words. How they wound me." He clutched his chest, slumping over.

"You'd make a good actor." I muttered, returning to the book.

"You think so?" He laughed, sitting back up once again.

"Definitely." I sneered, tightly gripping onto my pen.

Silence momentarily grew between us, allowing me to relax a bit more.

"What's your home like?" He began to question me.

"Excuse me?" I lifted my head up, catching a faint glimpse of his eyes at the other side of the bickering fire.

"How do you remember home?" He rephrased the question, a look of curiosity written on his face.

"Well," I smiled, setting the book back onto the table, "I was born and raised in Arizona. It's a very hot, and very dry climate." I gave off a short laugh, looking down at the floor, "Every summer, the whole family would get together and we'd go to my grandparents' house. They had a pool there. My uncle would bring in an ice chest of soda and we'd just wade in the water." I sighed, biting down on my lower lip, "One time, I hit my head on the concrete. My eldest sister immediately came to my aid, making many attempts to comfort me. I was twelve at the time, and refused to cry, but my frustration was still evident." I let out a slow sigh, allowing myself to relax as I looked back up at my roommate, "Thanks, I needed that."

"Any time." He laughed, sending me a toothy grin.

Again, silence grew between us as I watched the flame of the candle flicker.

"I... left home a long time ago, myself." He spoke up once again. His tone was solum, but he still wore a smile, "My mother grew her own produce. Well, all except wheat." He laughed a bit, "You see, my father was never really around, and it had always been up to my mother to take care of me and my younger brother... I was little when she got sick. It's... nothing fatal, yet, but it became up to me to bring in the money. I had to tend to the plants just for the satisfaction of eating, and I got a job once I was allowed to in a failing attempt to pay off any doctors bills." He watched his feet for a short while.

"What happened?" I asked in a low voice, feeling like I already know the ending.

"I died..." His voice was quiet, nearly a whisper as he pressed the knuckle of his thumb against his eyelid, "I was fourteen years old. Fell over from exhaustion, and I woke up in the Director's house. "

"And that's how you know Carolina." I watched him, hoping he wouldn't crumble.

"Yeah, and that was eight years ago." He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Carolina was six years old, the same age as my younger brother. I guess that's how the two of us became so close."

"Did you-"

"Witness Allison's death?" He looked up at me, "No quiet. She was sent to active duty before I got there. I witnessed how crushed Leonard was afterward, and how much it affected Carolina, but the pain never sunk in for me."

"Oh, I see." I nodded.

"Well, I wish that was the case." He finally spoke up, "I never personally knew Allison, but she reminded me a lot of my own mother. Always cheery, and not afraid to express herself. That's how her death affected me. I felt as if my own mother had slipped away from me. I confronted Carolina how I would've my brother if that had ever happened to us... but it didn't. I was torn away from my family, and I am almost positive I will never be able to see them again."

"Sure you will." I shot him a smile, allowing him to calm down a bit, "I mean, if there's a will, there's a way, right? I'm even looking at what seems like an impossible situation, but I'm still doing my best to get back. I'm sure you'll be able to find your way back, soon."

"I would die just to get back home," He spoke in a barely audible tone, "but I'd have to do that quite a few times in order to end up successful, and that might not even work in itself."

"Okay, you're talking gibberish, now." I let out an uneasy laugh.

"It's fine." He chuckled a bit as he stood up, "You mind walking with me for a moment? I want to show you something."

"So long as you don't drop your pants." I spoke in a serious tone, forcing myself to stand, "I don't have to deal with that for another month, and I'd like to keep it that way."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment, "Fucking yearly physicals. Do you guys really find that necessary?"

"If you're carrying an STI, it would be better to find it during a physical and fix it rather than to find it through other people."

"I'm sure that's not the only reason." He laughed somewhat uncomfortably, opening the door.

"There are thousands of reasons. Cancer just so happens to be one of them. Just make sure you ask someone else to check up on you. I'll get nightmares."

"Yeah, yeah." He laughed, "I know the drill."

* * *

"Alright, here it is." Nevada quickly scanned his identification card over a black bar mounted onto the wall. The sliding door opened, revealing a mass of greenery.

"What the hell is this." I spoke up, awestruck from the plethora of color.

"Our source of oxygen on this ship." He sighed, holding a large, hibiscus flower at eye level, "You didn't think that Kappa would allow them to just pump artificial air into the Mother of Invention, did you?"

"This is beautiful." I laughed, tapping the petals of a large, vibrant flower.

"The mother of invention houses three biomes. First is the rainforest." He motioned to the land around us, "This one's the most beautiful, in my opinion. The other two biomes are the temperate forest and the desert."

"Pft. Nothing grows in the desert." I laughed, watching as a vine began to curl around my arm.

"Succulents."

"True, but you don't necessarily need a cactus."

A wry grin curled at his lips, "What if I told you that Project Freelancer bought the very last saguaro of planet Earth."

"I'd say you're full of shit." I laughed, "It is a state law that saguaros are not to be messed with in any way, therefore you guys cannot have the last one. In fact, at my high school, someone decided to prank the school and moved a saguaro into the football field. The school had to call the state and ask for approval to get it removed."

"If it's such a big, bad law, then how did the mange to move it?" He held a mocking tone, planting his hands on his hips.

"Nothing is illegal, so long as you don't get caught." I laughed again, holding my sides.

"Well, someone was a rebel in high school."

"Actually, no." I let out a sigh, "My sister was, though. I was 'too much of a goody-two-shoes.'"

"Sorry?"

"Don't be?"

He let out a slow exhale, "So, want to head back?"

"Yes, before curfew sets in." I began to walk back over to the door.

"And what a rebel you are." He held a heavy amount of sarcasm in his voice.

"You know what?" I asked, looking over my shoulder with a glower, "Shut up." I looked forward once again, remaining silent for the majority of the walk back, "Hey, Nevada?"

"Hm?" He looked over to me, a pleased look on his face.

"Thanks for helping me calm down."

He gave me a nudge on the arm, "Hey, anyway for you to keep composed as you try to find the best means possible for returning home will benefit both of us."

Benefit both of us? Hm... I wonder how that could be.

* * *

**Here, I would like to explain where I got the idea for this. panda8785 and I have recently moved to Texas (YAY!), and we originally come from Arizona. One of the first thing we did was go to a plant nursery and look at all the beautiful flowers. We were actually delighted by the fact that there was so much ****vegetation! Well, that's my story. Don't forget to follow our community and forum (A Tale of Two Bears) and panda8785's The Jumper's Guide to Returning Home, which will be continued if she gets 16 followers! Ciao!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So, I'm going to combine a couple of short ones (which are too short to make up a whole chapter), so please mind the time gaps... sorry.**

* * *

"What the hell did you do?!" Nevada yelled at me, nearly causing me to lose my balance as I stood atop of a chair on my bed, "I only left for one. fucking. hour!"

"I need a place to keep my research." I spoke through the scissors between my teeth as I began to tape a blueprint on the wall, "Don't freak out. It'll all stay on my side of the room."

"YOU'RE A NUT JOB IF YOU THINK THIS IS OKAY IN A _SHARED_ ROOM!" He began to flail his arms.

"Don't yell so much." I huffed under my breath, propping myself against the wall, "If I don't focus on balance, I'm going to-"

"Fall? Yeah, that oughta learn you." He growled, sitting on his own bed. After a few, nearly silent moments, he began humming a tune.

"If I could just see it all, just like a fly on the wall, would I be able to accept what I can't control?" I began subconsciously singing along. It's a song on my Mp3, so of course I'd know the lyrics. I haven't been able to update that thing in three and an eighth, "And would I share what I saw, or just sit back and ignore, like nothing never happened. I haven't seen you before." I looked over my shoulder, facing the younger man, "How the hell do you know that song?"

"Perhaps the same reason you do." He gave off a soft chuckle before sprawling out on his bed.

"I don't think so." I laughed, carefully stepping off my chair, "You see, that song is from the early two thousands."

"It's also on your Mp3 player." He allowed his smile to curl at the corners of his lips, "You play that thing so loud, it's hard not to listen."

I sighed, looking over the wall, "So, how do you feel about the three that just graduated, today?"

"It's odd for Kappa to let more than one in a grouping." He sat back up, looking back at me, "She must really have a lot of faith in them to let them all go through."

"West Virginia, New Mexico, and Arizona." I felt a smile plaster itself onto my face, "May they have the best of luck, then."

"That leaves seven more slots open."

"Montana, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York, Maine, North, and South Dakota." I collapsed onto my bed, "Just ten and a half more months and I don't have to mend the highly accident prone any longer!"

"Unless she fails a few groups."

"Yeah, but that's not bound to happen anytime soon." I lolled my head to where it just dangled off the edge of the bed, "Not at this rate, anyway."

* * *

It has been five years, and the Kappa AI has only passed four of the seven; Maine, York, North, and South. Because of the delay, three have ended up dead... so we still have six slots open.

"What the hell!" I shouted at the child, who had sat attentively atop of my bed.

"Hello, Lazerus! How have you been fai-"

"Cut the crap!" I nearly hissed through my teeth, "Why are you taking your sweet time to complete the Director's god damn collection?!"

"They're all weak." She spoke in a flatlined tone, staring at me with a blank expression.

"They at least have the motivation!"

"Motivation isn't enough." She stood up on the bed, making it so that the two of us were at eye level, "It is merely human nature, anymore to be weak. Arizona is weak-"

"But you still passed him!" I shouted in her face, causing a faint anger to bubble inside of her.

"Don't you dare test me, Lenning!" She snapped, a menacing demeanor in her eyes, "The only reason Alec was qualified was because he has TWO family members worth passing! It was nowhere near his ambition being the reason! ALL of his success come from his brother and cousin!"

"Don't you dare tell him that." I hissed through my teeth, sending the girl a menacing glare, "Don't you tell tell the kid that. He personally told me about how this is the first time he felt like he had potential, and if you dare squander that-"

"We both know he has no potential." She scoffed, a crazy grin forming against her features, "He is unable to gain anymore muscle, and the only one in his family that isn't battle ready. He's worthless."

"Don't question a person's worth!" I felt anger well up inside of me as I raised the little bot by the collar of her shirt. She didn't writhe, but remained still and lifeless, "Lives are not made for _your_ judgment."

"I am never wrong."

"No, I want you to check your logs to see just what people are capable of."

She stared at me with a blank expression, "Murder. Inventions. Innovations." She watched me for a moment, "Even so, the kid doesn't have a future. If he died, it wouldn't make much of a difference, aside from the fact that two people in the entire universe would be upset, but that may only help them with their performance."

"How can you say something like that?" I set her down, balling my fists at my side, "How can you just measure someones worth on strength and sociability."

"Unfortunately, that's how the world works, anymore." She sighed, looking back at me with an apathetic look, "It's been five years, and he only talks to anyone when absolutely necessary."

I let out a slow sigh, running a hand through my hair, "He has more worth than you give him credit for. You should have a little more faith in him."

* * *

"I need thirty cc of anesthetic, stat!" I yelled at my co-worker as I looked over the body of the barely conscious eighteen year old boy.

"Yes, Sir!" He rushed over to a cabinet, digging for the bottle needed.

"Top shelf."

"Yessir!"

I looked over the boy, attempting to calm his sporadic breathing, "Why'd you do it?"

The boy looked up at me, a faint grin nearly buried by all the pain, "The world doesn't revolve around me... I just know... that I had to..."

"Here you go." The nurse handed me a needle.

"Thanks." I sighed, poking at the boy's arm and injecting the anesthetic, "You'll be better in no time."

... The surgery itself took about a half an hour, but it was successful. The two of us lay the boy onto one of the beds, and that was it for the day. We both left the medical bay, pagers in hand.

"Doctor?" New Mexico looked up at me from where he had been sitting.

"Cameron, you're not supposed to be stationary in the hallways." I sighed, kneeling in front of the boy.

"He's alright, right?" I never saw the guy cry, but tears easily brimmed his eyes.

"He'll be fine." I gave him a comforting smile, "He's just resting, but you can wait for him to wake up inside, if you'd like." But that would mean I would have to stay within the Bay.

"Thanks." He stood up, wiping his eyes.

"I have to tell you something, first." I sighed, standing up myself. He was roughly my hight, but obviously a lot stronger than me, now, "I want you to know this before I tell him."

"What." His voice held many different emotions, but concern and fear were the more identifiable ones.

"I'm not going to say he can't, but..." I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to find the right words to use, "His left leg was a bit screwed up, and some of the nerves were stripped. There's a good chance he may never be able to walk again."

"... Alright." His voice was vacant, but it was obvious he understood, "He's not going to be kicked from the-"

"I'll do my best to prevent that." I gave him another smile, hoping to keep the guy relaxed, "In the meantime, I would highly suggest that he tried physical therapy. We might be able to get him back into active duty."

"Yeah..." He ducked his head a bit, looking through the door that had still been open, "May I please see him?"

"Go ahead." I moved out of his way, allowing him into the room. Immediately, he sat at the chair next to his brother, eyeing every inch of gauze and red.

"I'm sorry." I overheard him mutter before I closed the door to my office.

* * *

So far, I've been here for eleven years, and man has that been hectic. Arizona, undergoing therapy for two years, is finally able to walk without any supports, but not run, yet. We don't want to rush things. The Director, though, doesn't see the improvement. For the longest time he had been demanding that the Kappa AI would kick Alec from the Project, saying he is of no used to him, anymore. I would say "like father; like daughter," but it's obvious they share drastic differences. The girl understands what it's like to want to stay close to a sibling, and she doesn't want such separation to happen to these twins, who have known each other throughout their whole life.

* * *

Three years afterwards, an the guy's back to peak condition. Well, sort of. In order to be able to do anymore that walking, he has to wear a brace, but with the help, he's back in active duty. His motivation is what keeps him strong, and that's how he expresses his worth.

* * *

One year after the boy returned to active duty, there is only one spot open in Project Freelancer. That's when I met Her.


	9. Chapter 9

"Please, sit down." I motioned to the bed as I continued to type a few things into the last person's file.

"Thank you." She spoke softly in some sort of accent. French. No, it seems a tad more latin-based. It's more like a mix of two similar tongues.

"So," I sighed, trying to keep a positive attitude as I spun around in my seat, "what brings you to Freelancer? Fame? Wealth?"

"No where else." She ducked her head down, pulling at the rim of a large, white shirt around her body. She wore that and what looked like pajama bottoms.

"No where else." I repeated her words, feeling my face drop, "You have to be a bit more specific." I glanced at the back of her jaw, watching as some lost flesh the began to heal itself once again. It looked almost as if she were... decomposing... but it was obvious she was living.

"I... can't find home... so a friend dragged me here." She tried to explain, fumbling against her own words.

"I know what it's like to not be able to find home." I chuckled, picking up my stethoscope and calmly approaching the woman, "So, you're telling me that you don't want to be here."

"Better than civ... civeny... ci..."

"Civilization?" I laughed, lifting up the back of her shirt. The same wounds at her jaw were scattered in patches, "Gross."

"What?" She turned her head to me, completely oblivious.

"Um." I eyed a specific patch, which desperately need treating, "There are sores all over your body. Did you fall or something?"

She looked at me with a confused expression, "Sores?"

I lunged over to my desk, pulling a mirror from a drawer, "Just look at this."

She turned her head as best as she could as I angled the mirror, "Dégoûtant." She sneered.

"I'm going to have to treat these before anything else." I poked at a sore, causing her to flinch.

"Mmhm." She forced out in a pained voice.

"Alright." I sighed, eying one of the lesions, "Let me go grab my tools."

* * *

"Well, otherwise, you are the spitting image of health." I spoke with a satisfied tone, turning to my computer, "So, what's your name."

"Michele Jay Walker, but-"

"Michele." (Meekellay) I began typing in here name, "Mind if I call you Michelle?" (Mishell)

"Everyone does." She sighed, leaning her head against the wall.

My computer began to freak out on me, unable to find the girl's personal file, "What the hell?" I began typing again, hoping to fix the problem.

"As I was trying to say-"

"Why is this not working." I examined the monitor.

"Why do you keep interrupting me?" She sneered, shooting a sideways look my way.

"I haven't been interrupting." I laughed, trying to lighten up the eerie mood.

"My files-"

"God dammit." I spoke through grit teeth, watching my monitor fail.

"I don't have any sort of records with the UNSC!" She yelled at me, causing me to straighten out.

"Why don't you have a file?" I watched her in an inquisitive fashion.

"I... just don't." She cowered once again.

"You know, for someone who didn't know the word 'civilization,' you sure seem to be confident with this language."

"Better to fake a couple of words upon meeting than to surprise them." She laughed, "I'm not a fan of being made fun of for not understanding words like 'acquisition,' or 'remuneration.'"

"Well, Miss Smarty."

"Don't patronithise me, I've been speaking this language for two years. I at least understand context. This is one of the harder languages to learn, especially in adulthood."

I looked in the direction of the doorway, later returning my gaze to her, "So, why don't you have a file?" I questioned her with a low voice.

"I just don't." She sighed, glaring daggers into me.

I watched her for a brief moment before letting out a slow exhale, "Alright, we'll create you a file, but if anyone asks, it's the same file as you had during birth." I put the two earbuds into my ear, blaring music as I typed in all the information necessary. Once that was done, I motioned her out of my office, sending her to the cafeteria to get food and team/room assignments.

You could easily say we did not get along well, in the beginning.

* * *

**dégoûtant- Disgusting (french)**

**So... shorter chapter. Sorry about that. ;-;**


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